FROM

The chickens were killed. Free from Harm and UPC sent an e-mail with the
resulting 3800 plus signatures on our Change.org petition to owners Russ Van
Deursen and Heather Chase.

Deursen wrote back to UPC: “Soooo, fyi, no amount of signatures would have
stopped this workshop, there were 8 attendees. And the petition should have
been over hours ago, step away from your device and go outside and look up!
Operate on a higher vibration… It was a glorious day.”

An article that ran on June 25, 2014 in the local paper, The Conway Daily
Sun1 was conventionally slanted toward the local businesses; at least
it let readers know that there was strong opposition to the chicken
slaughter class. Perhaps some or many will now think more deeply about the
incompatibility of slaughtering animals and practicing yoga.

ACTION

A change.org petition with over 3,000 signatures was launched by United
Poultry Concerns and Free from Harm. The groups
were asking the owners of Be
Well Studios and The Local Grocer to cancel the chicken killing class and
spare the birds on their farm. They were also asking their supporters and
the large yoga community to contact the owners and speak up on behalf of the
chickens.

“As a polite and loyal customer, I sent a thoughtful email to the owners
and asked them to reconsider the slaughter of these young birds,” Slitt
said. “I was shocked when a policeman showed up with a restraining order.”

As of today, June 23, the June 28th throat-cutting is still scheduled.

Heather Chase
Co-owner of The Local Grocer, Be Well Studios and Mountain Flower Farm[email protected]

Russell Van Deursen
Co-owner of The Local Grocer, Be Well Studios and Mountain Flower Farm[email protected]

INFORMATION / TALKING POINTS

Defying the well-established value of ahimsā (non-harming) that has been
a central teaching for yoga practitioners for millennia, Be Well Studios, a
Yoga and healing center is joining with The Local Grocer to sponsor a
Permaculture class on how to “process” or slaughter chickens, scheduled for
June 28th at Mountain Flower Farm in North Conway, NH. Laura Slitt, a The
Local Grocer shopper and animal advocate, sent a respectful email to the
owners asking that they cancel the needless killing of the birds pointing
out that it is not “peaceful, natural or holistic.” Slitt contacted United
Poultry Concerns and Free From Harm, national animal advocacy organizations,
to assist her when she did not receive a response from the owners. Instead,
Slitt was issued a restraining order signed by Heather Chase, a co-owner of
the farm, yoga studio and grocery store.

“As a polite and loyal customer, I sent a thoughtful email to the owners
and asked them to reconsider the slaughter of these young birds,” Slitt
said. “I was shocked when a policeman showed up with a restraining order.”

United Poultry Concerns Founder and President Karen Davis, PhD said,
“Distressingly, we are seeing do-it-yourself slaughtering classes more
frequently, but when they are connected to a spiritual center of the
community, it is particularly disturbing.” Davis said that for Be Well
Studios to condone the killing of these chickens would be himsā (causing
harm) and contrary to the very nature of Yogic tradition. “Those chickens
don’t want to die, and it is not necessary to kill them,” she added.

Throat cutting, the most common method used by backyard, do-it-yourself
slaughter hobbyists, is not a quick or painless death. The neck is full of
pain receptors and other nerve endings, and it can take many minutes of
intense suffering for the birds to bleed out while in a frightened state of
agony and anxiety.

A change.org petition with over 3,000 signatures was launched by United
Poultry Concerns and Free from Harm. The groups are asking the owners of Be
Well Studios and The Local Grocer to cancel the chicken killing class and
spare the birds on their farm. They are also asking their supporters and the
large yoga community to contact the owners and speak up on behalf of the
chickens.

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